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Untitled from Ryan Bush on Vimeo.

My wife and I served in Lima, Peru for two years prior to coming to Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. It was an amazing experience and God taught us a lot of things that continue to have an impact on our lives and ministry.

We did a lot of traveling in the Andes Mountains when we lived in Peru. On one of these trips we met a man named Daniel, a village doctor. Daniel seemed good-natured, but was very skeptical of who we were and what we were doing in Peru. The following day our team leader, Mike, visited Daniel again and gave him a New Testament. We assumed that was all we would hear of him, but we were wrong.

The next morning Mike returned from town with some exciting news. He told us that as he was walking through the village Daniel ran out to meet him. “His face was beaming!” Mike said. He told Mike that he had read through the New Testament the night before and realized his sin and need for Jesus. Daniel had given his life to Christ!! The team was pumped, but God wasn’t done yet.

That night we had scheduled town meetings in two neighboring villages. In these meetings we handed out New Testaments and taught people how to study God’s Word. Daniel, our new brother in Christ, came along with us. At the first village, Daniel shared his testimony and how God’s Word had changed his life. Twenty-five people put their faith in Christ!! At the second village, he shared his faith again and over twenty more people trusted Jesus!! God used the seed we planted by sharing his Word to bring over forty people into his kingdom!

In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul said “My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow.” The Corinthians had made the mistake of forgetting that it was God who gives the increase. It is important that we recognize that we are simply vessels or tools that God uses. When someone builds a house, the hammer is not praised, the man who built it is. We are the hammer, God is the builder.

One of my favorite things about Dr. May’s style of teaching is the fact that he helps us process the material in such a way that we could, if need be, teach it others. To make sure that we reach that level of understanding, we actually teach.

Below are Brad Savage and Sarah Byrd in action. As you can see, they are both hanging on to the podium for dear life.

It’s more than a little intimidating to stand before peers and professors and try to communicate information in a clear and engaging way.

Recently, I spent some time with the Live by the Word crew at MABTS.  They interviewed my twice as part of a project called “Ten Minutes With . . . ”

The first part of the interview is available here.

. . . the morning light broke in upon us . . . to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death . . . and to guide us to the path of peace . . .

When we were three we lived in Little Rock with a house full of pregnant teens. Sophia was Samuel’s age now. Crazy.

I had the privilege of attending the commissioning of 61 missionaries last week. The International Mission Board currently has over 5 thousand missionaries across the world. In the coming year, however, they have to draw back. They lack the resources to maintain the current deployed workforce.

Some are able to go. Like these.

Four couples from Mid-America Baptist were appointed with this group. Two will be going to South America, one to Romania, and the fourth somewhere else.

José jumped out of his vehicle and asked me if anyone answered the door. I had been knocking on his front door while he watched me from his vehicle. I had no idea he was there. As I turned to leave I noticed him talking on his cell phone. He seemed upset. I immediately thought that this might not be the best time to be at this home, so I headed straight for my car. That’s when he jumped out. I told him that no one had answered.

He picked up the phone and told the person on the other end that he would call them back. “Who are you looking for?” he wanted to know. I swallowed. “I am a church planter. I just wanted to meet you.” He looked at me and I could see that tears were filling his eyes. “There are no coincidences.” he said. “Ok.” was all I could muster unsure about what he meant. José began to tell me how he had just been talking to his mother trying to share Scripture with her to encourage her as she was having a very difficult time right now. He then told me that he had become a follower of Jesus, but did not attend a church. “Can you teach us the Bible?” he asked. “I would love to.” I said. He just stood there and waited. “You mean right now?” I asked. “Yes.” he said.

He gathered his family (3 generations) in their living room and set a swiveling desk chair in the middle of the room for me to sit in. We prayed together and applied Colossians 1:15-20 to our lives. The next day José called me and asked if I could come back every week. I will be meeting with José and his family on Saturday evenings. Please pray that José will continue to lead his family toward God. Pray that I will have wisdom in knowing how this family might fit into a new church plant.